Salt Brand Solutions wins RBNL-RTL JV's pitch

The mandate involves handling the creative duties for two upcoming TV channels that are slated to be launched over the coming months.

Mumbai-based Salt Brand Solutions has won the creative pitch initiated by the JV (joint venture) between Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) and the Luxembourg-based media company RTL Group. The company is yet to be named, but is as of now, called BIG RTL.

The pitch process, initiated a month back, took place in Mumbai. This pitch was in the wake of RBNL's 50:50 joint venture agreement with the RTL Group; it may be recalled that this JV was announced in March 2011.

For the winning agency, the mandate involves handling the creative duties for two upcoming TV channels that are slated to be launched over the coming months.

Of the two new channels, one is slated to be a reality channel with international content, most of which will be sourced from the group's production house FremantleMedia, which has a significant presence in the Indian market. The other channel will be an action channel, targeted specifically at the urban male.

Recall that at the time of entering into the JV with the RTL Group -- a European television and radio network -- RBNL (owned by the ADA Group) informed BSE that it is doing so to launch a series of television channels in India. Also, in the future, the JV will explore owning, and/or operating Hindi and regional language channels.

The RTL Group has 40 television channels and 33 radio stations across Europe. It boasts 9,500 hours of TV programming per year across 54 countries, more than 300 programmes on air, or in-production worldwide, and more than 20,000 hours of content selling in over 180 countries, globally.

For the record, Salt Brand Solutions was launched by Mahesh Chauhan (aka Mash) and Minakshi Achan in May, this year. In June, the agency won the creative mandate for Kaya Skin Clinic.

The Salt team looks at itself as a group of 'brand donors', and believes in a three-step process to brand solutions comprising Chatter (keeping an ear to the ground and listening to consumers and anyone who has a point of view on society, people, arts, trends and brands), Handshake (looking at simple means of communication), and Brand Tattoo (embedding brands in the minds and lives of consumers by giving consumers the rightful ownership of the brands and brand beliefs they subscribe to).

Interestingly, the agency doesn't subscribe to the practice of assigning job titles or designations to its team members.